Clay County Coffee Stout

Brewed By: Bee Creek Brewery

Style: American Stout

ABV: 6%

I always like trying local beers; supporting local breweries and businesses in general is just good for your surrounding economy. So when I noticed that this brewery was located in Brazil, IN, I had to pick up a beer to review.

The Bee Creek Brewery was started in 2007 and continues to be a family owned and run business. Mark Snelling is the Brewmaster and has over 25 years of brewing experience. As of right now, they have 3 beers that they brew with ingredients from right here in Indiana. I chose the Clay County Coffee Stout to review first.

Brewer’s Description: “A dark, rich beer brewed with roasted malts and combined with Brazil Santos Coffee (from Jameson in Greencastle). Expect a full-bodied beer with a sumptuous coffee aroma topped only by it's opulent flavor.”

Look – Poured a dark brown, near black. Very little head that dissipated rather quickly.

Smell – Wonderful aromas coming from this beer. There was a strong coffee smell, very similar to just smelling a cup of coffee. There is also a strong chocolate aroma and a very faint hop smell.

Taste – I was pretty disappointed by the taste overall. The first thing I noticed was how light the body was (in contrast to the brewer’s description). It almost tasted like it was much too watery. A lot of the taste is very front-end and doesn’t stick around. I do taste a decent amount of hops but am otherwise disappointed by how little chocolate and coffee taste there is. As always, I tried this beer while eating some food; today’s food being popcorn. I will say that with the popcorn improved the taste a little and brought out a little more of the chocolate and hop taste. It’s a rather easy beer to drink because of the light body, but just doesn’t provide any complexity in its taste.

Conclusion – Overall, I didn’t really enjoy this beer. The smell made me think it was going to be a high quality beer but it didn’t end up meeting that expectation. I was very surprised by how light the body was and how very little taste it had. The beer also tasted kind of flat.

I am giving this beer a C-

I am sad that I didn’t enjoy this beer more because I would have loved to find an awesome local brewery that I could tour and review. I might still visit the brewery and try their other beers because every brewery deserves a second chance!

Support your local breweries!

Happy Drinking!